Born on August 4, 1936, Shri Vaghul received his Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Degree from the University of Madras (now known as Chennai) in 1956. He joined the State Bank of India in 1957 as a Probationary Officer, became the Director in the National Institute of Bank Management, Mumbai in 1976, before assuming charge as Executive Director in Central Bank of India in 1978. He became Chairman Bank of India in 1981 and had the distinction of being the youngest ever Chairman in a Public Sector Bank. He joined the ICICI Limited as Chairman & CEO in 1985 and continued to head the group till April 2009.

During his tenure in ICICI Shri Vaghul created several new institutions laying the foundation for the development of the Universal Banking model. He started the first venture capital company in India in 1987 and from a small beginning this has become the leading venture capital company today. He was also instrumental in setting up ICICI Securities, an Investment Banking company. When the banking licence was thrown open to the non state players, he set up a commercial bank with which ICICI was to merge subsequently to become the first major universal financial institution catering to the diverse needs of all segments of customers. He also pioneered the concept of Credit Rating in India by setting up CRISIL. He was the founder Chairman of CRISIL for close to ten years and helped in evolving the best practices of credit rating in the country.

Shri Vaghul was deeply interested in Education, particularly to the under privileged sections of the society. He was the Chairman of “Pratham” a leading NGO in this sector. He is associated with several foundations dedicated to the cause of primary education. He is also deeply committed to the cause of science and technology and was responsible for setting up the first Science and Technology Park in the country known as ICICI Knowledge Park.. He is associated with Institute of Technology in Jaipur. He has been the Chairman of IFMR a Business School with an array of research centers engaged in a variety of economic and social research.

Shri Vaghul is the recipient of numerous awards and honours. He was chosen as the Business Man of the Year by Business India in 1992. He was given Lifetime Achievement Award by the Economic Times in 2006. He was given an award for the contribution to the Corporate Governance by the Institute of Company Secretaries in 2007. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Program” in 2009. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2009.